Born Ibrahim Olawale Ashimi, Brymo is that man with great vocals and an amazing understanding of contextualized music artistry. He plies unapologetically and safely on Alternative Music.

It is safe to say Brymo actually thrives on controversy and he has a deep understanding of that fact therefore exploiting same to the best of his ability.

From his issues with his former label, Chocolate City in 2013 which led to him leaving the M.I record brand, to the titles of songs and albums including – Tabula Rasa, Klitoris and even the latest Oso.

Still basking on controversy, Brymo was once quoted to have said that no Nigerian artiste makes more money than him. Some other times, he said he is the innovator of Alternative Music in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the last of such which actually left the mouth of a lot of people wide agape is his almost nude appearance in the video of ‘Heya’ off his latest studio album – Oso.

Regardless of these controversies though, Brymo is one of the few Nigerian artistes who has a deep connection with the art of music.

BRYMO – BA’NUSO

In this time and age when you have so many people around you but there’s only a few or none as the case may be, to call friends. When people trivialize whatever it is you share with them; when private discussions becomes topics for public deliberations when the subject of the talk leaves; Brymo’s Ba’nuso has a place in conscientious music.

Comfortably, Brymo preaches the idea of keeping issues within and not opening up to every tom, dick and harry. According to him, you only knows who you love and not who loves you. Therefore, you have to keep things private and not for public glare especially when hard times comes your way.

It is easy to connect with Brymo on these verses. He fuses deep Afro sounds with intensive connection to his roots. Brymo playing around 6 different Yoruba proverbs properly employed in the lyrics and succinctly pronounced anyway is the best justice to Yoruba lingual extraction in recent times followed only by 9ice in ‘Promise and Fail’. The only thing non-Yoruba in the song is the percussive sound of the trumpet.

He also made a visual appeal with the video which was pretty much minimalistic. One would wonder if Brymo was playing down on cost or just felt comfortable with such visual approach. The black themed video which lasted for 3:31 minutes has Brymo at the centre of the camera. He was there gesticulating so much to drive home the message of the song.

‘Ba’nuso’ is not regular. I mean you don’t get to listen to vibes like this speaking to your conscience on social virtues except from the likes of Brymo. However, even with the video, the song remains an average tune with no out of the world appeal. Little wonder it did not stand out in the Oso album compared to Heya and Money Launderers and Heart Breakers.

Brymo Oso Cover

WHY?

Yes, the creative stress of putting up an album like Oso could have been exhaustive. And that is why you don’t always have the A-game of an artiste on all the songs in an album. However, perhaps Brymo could have pushed the conversation on ‘Ba’nuso’ a little bit higher. This could be done not necessarily with controversy but by creating more intensity in the video.

A dramatic cameo appearance as in the case of Reminisce’s ‘Ponmile’ could have done justice. And he doesn’t even have a very clean cut face that can keep the viewers glued for 211 seconds that the video lasted.

Lyrically, the song was great. Dope lyrics driven by message that reminds you of the fundamental ethics of interpersonal relations. Yet Brymo could have added more flavour just to make the message last longer in this immersive industry. This is important especially as we further advance the discussion surrounding Alternative Music in Nigeria.

The Sultan Grey is a young and enthusiastic Nigerian youth with a great flair for creativity and the life mission of inspiring the next generation always with his voice and pen.
The former got him on the journey of #OnBecomingRadioSultan as a Broadcast Journalist - OAP, VJ, Red Carpet Host and Public Speaker while the latter turned him into a Blogger with special interest in development 'webloggism'.
Think The Sultan Grey; think Radio, TV, Music, Fashion and Movies.

[…] it is a usual ‘danceable’ vibe and that’s not a problem. At least we all won’t be conscious every time. We need songs for some moments when we decide to go gaga too. But even with that, a certain degree […]